"The smile that I see on the faces of my children after my class and the fact that they don't feel like leaving, that's my highest award," says Remya Iyer, who would travel 70 km everyday to teach despite raising two young kids.
Remya Parameswar Iyer, a recipient of this year's National Teacher Awards, claims she isn't a 'natural-born teacher.'
It's a profession she chanced upon 2004, when her husband found work as a professor at IIT-Guwahati and the couple moved to India from the United States.
"I never knew that I would end up teaching school students," says the award-winning teacher, a Tamilian, born and raised in Thrissur, Kerala.
Remya has an MS in Biochemical Research and was pursuing research in neurochemistry. However, the research was unable to take off in Guwahati, so she decided to approach a school nearby called the Faculty Higher Secondary School for a teaching job.
There, she met Pradip Kumar Bhuyan, the school's founding director, who gave her a job teaching biotechnology to high school students.
"I'm so grateful to Mr Bhuyan. It's because of him that I became a teacher.
Engagement beyond the classroom
One of her greatest strengths as a teacher is the ability to encourage students to think and engage with the subject beyond the classroom.For example, in 2011-12, fluoride contamination of water in Guwahati became a significant issue. During a classroom discussion on the same, students asked her whether they could collect water samples from different hotels and hilly areas of the city to ascertain the nature of the problem.
More than a teacher
"She is more than a science teacher—she is a friend, and that breaks down so many barriers that exist between students and teachers. In India, even today, there is fear among students when interacting with teachers, and students love her because she never made us feel that sense of fear," says Uddipana.
For 11 years, students at KV Khanapara enjoyed the fruits of this teacher's magnificent labour. In July 2019, she moved to KV, IIT Guwahati.
Source & Credit: The Better India